NEW DELHI: Worldwide mobile phone shipments are expected to decline 1.6 percent on year in 2016, as the smartphone market matures and reaches global saturation, market research firm Gartner said on Thursday. It however added that the overall shipments will recover in next two years.The smartphone segment ​though ​is growing globally, albeit ​slower than in ​the ​previous years, and is expected to reach 1.5 billion units in 2016, ​up 4.5 percent​ on year​.

Compared to 1.91 billion mobile phones in 2015, shipment is likely to dip to 1.88 billion units in 2016 before recovering to 1.91 billion in 2017 and further to 1.93 billion in 2018, Gartner said.

"This is no surprise; the smartphone market is maturing, and reaching global saturation with phones that are increasingly capable and remain good enough for longer," Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner, said in a statement.

Gartner ​added that the Android market will continue to be bolstered by Chinese vendors offering more affordable premium devices this year.

The research firm expects a weaker year-over-year volume performance from Apple in 2016, as volumes stabilize after a very strong 2015, despite the availability of the iPhone 7, which will further impact the premium smartphone segment, which is likely to decline 1.1 percent this year.

"We expect the market for premium smartphones to return to 3.5 per cent growth in 2017, as stronger replacement cycles kick in and in anticipation of a new iPhone next year, which is expected to offer a new design and new features that are attractive enough to convince more replacement buyers," said Cozza.

According to the research agency, worldwide combined shipments for devices - PCs, tablets, The smartphone segment ​though ​is growing globally, albeit ​slower than in ​the ​previous years, and is expected to reach 1.5 billion units in 2016, ​up 4.5 percent​ on year​. and mobile phones​ - are expected to decline 3 percent in 2016, marking ​a ​second consecutive year of decline. The global devices market fell by 0.75 percent in 2015.

“The global devices market is not on pace to return to single-digit growth soon. Growth is on pace to remain flat during the next five years. All segments are expected to decline in 2016, except for premium ultramobiles and utility mobile phones (entry level phones), which are expected to show single-digit growth this year,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

Atwal said that premium ultramobiles will start benefiting from the collective performance and integration of the latest Intel CPU platform and Windows 10.

The PC market is expected to decline 8 percent in 2016, as the installed base bottoms out and replacement cycle extensions halt.

Several people ET spoke with about Ericsson’s India operations, including its current and former employees, said the Stockholm-based firm has reduced headcount in the last one year or so across functions, in line with its global restructuring.